The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

By: Junot Diaz

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Staci Snell

Length: 16 hrs

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2008

National Book Critics Circle Award, Fiction, 2008

Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fuku: the curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.

Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience – and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot Diaz as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time.

Also includes the bestselling short story collection Drown.

©2007 Junot Diaz (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. and Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"An extraordinarily vibrant book that's fueled by adrenaline-powered prose... A book that decisively establishes [Díaz] as one of contemporary fiction's most distinctive and irresistible new voices." (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

"Díaz finds a miraculous balance. He cuts his barn-burning comic-book plots (escape, ruin, redemption) with honest, messy realism, and his narrator speaks in a dazzling hash of Spanish, English, slang, literary flourishes, and pure virginal dorkiness." (New York Magazine)

"Genius... a story of the American experience that is giddily glorious and hauntingly horrific. And what a voice Yunior has. His narration is a triumph of style and wit, moving along Oscar de Leon's story with cracking, down-low humor, and at times expertly stunning us with heart-stabbing sentences. That Díaz's novel is also full of ideas, that [the narrator's] brilliant talking rivals the monologues of Roth's Zuckerman - in short, that what he has produced is a kick-ass (and truly, that is just the word for it) work of modern fiction - all make The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao something exceedingly rare: a book in which a new America can recognize itself, but so can everyone else." (San Francisco Chronicle)

cute

This was cute - I didn't realize this was two books in one audiobook until the first book suddenly ended and I was only halfway through. The story was solid but some of the characters were a little annoying. Still, I enjoyed this and would read more by the author.

Wow! "Wao" makes a great story!

Read this if you have any interest in Latin American history and it's impact on being a marginalized young person in the USA. Awesome innovative method of telling the story of the Trujillo era of the Dominican Republic as it pertains to the generation after Trujillo.

Meh

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I have been waiting to read this award-winning book for ages. I was underwhelmed. I supposed I read it for the wrong reasons, hoping for a story of Oscar and instead getting a story of a Dominican family, a curse, and a country. It reminded me a lot of Love in the Time of Cholera (which I also found underwhelming). It was loaded with hyperbole and some of the characters, despite their ordeals, never were likeable for me (same with Cholera). I LOVED Oscar. This overweight love-obsessed boy (clearly with Asperger's) was my absolute favorite. Much later in the book they finally started to tell Oscar's story. But not for long enough. If this book was more Oscar and less about his Mother, grandparents and Dominican dictators I'd have adored it, devoured it. I was most put off by the lack of any redeeming arcs in the mother's storyline and the lack of any follow through into her life as the mother of the title character. I guess extensive hyperbole and unlikeable characters aren't my cup of tea - despite Nobel Prizes. The narrator was good. Pacing was appropriate. Voices were recognizable. Spanish, in my opinion, was emotive (what I didn't understand with my mediocre command of romance languages was delivered with inflection). Thus, 3 stars total.

ZAFA!

I recommend this richly descriptive well written novel. Well done Junot Diaz, well done!

THANK YOU

So sad though

Beautifully written. Just so sad. Might not be a repeat listen, unless I just need a cry.

Rough sad story, but gripping

Any additional comments?

There's a LOT of explicit language in this book, so you might want headphones. Great but sad stories woven together about a Dominican family. Great book.

Powerful Tragic Impactful

The characters were believable. The dark, painfully realistic plot was poignant. I recommend this book and transporting yourself to a glimpse of the those born in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Understanding of some Spanish is a prerequisite...

Let's deal with the Spanish first... I know absolutely no Spanish and I felt very handicapped when listening to the book. There are lots of Spanish in the book and I think I missed a lot of the colour and nuances in the story as a result. And being a audible book, you don't even get the benefit of subtitles ;-(

Second problem I have with the book is the way it is organized (or not). I found the way the author jumping around confusing. And it is only when I got well beyond the half way point that I start to follow the story. Now I would blame the book's description as well... The book is supposed to be about Oscar, but it is also about his family and his home country. So I may be less confused if I wasn't trying to figure out what the different plot lines has to do with Oscar.

Having said all of that, I actually do like the writing. It is punchy and it captures social zeitgeist well (at least the parts that is in English which I can understand). The writing is can be funny in its own way from time to time.

So in the end, this is a fairly good book. The story line is interesting. The writing is good. But I just feel that I did not getting the full effect (kind of like watching a 3D movie without the 3D glasses).

Interesting but not exceptional

Ed

Tells about the legacy of the Trujillo dictatorship, the DR immigrant experience and loads of Spanish slang. The story I found to be lacking and ended weakly. Maybe comic book nerds like this story better. I can't see it being worthy of the Pulitzer.

'Hablo Ingles'

Interest in Diaz' upcoming book edged me toward this selection, listener's reviews sealed the deal (Robert from Yamhill Or., and Casey from Phoenix, were both excellent). After years of reviews, there isn't much else to say, so I'll point out something I experienced.

I liked this book, it was different, a good crazy story, (who were all these mean people?) I think Diaz is a creative and original writer, but I couldn't figure out the Pulitzer Prize going to the same book I read. I didn't feel that Pulitzer power, didn't understand the characters or feel connected to them, thought the sexual focus became pointless after a while, the back and forth tossed me a few times--overall it felt static. While discussing this fact with the friend that recommended the book, he mentioned that the footnotes in the book are an important part of Diaz' process--where a lot of the character is developed. This is a similar dilemma with listening to David Foster Wallace instead of reading his footnote-laden works. Click! Between the Spanish comments I couldn't interpret well enough, and the missing footnotes in the audio version...there lies the problem for me! Books often loose something in translation--obviously the same holds true for partial translation and deletion of footnotes. I don't know if this will be a problem for every listener -- it is a very good listen and obviously enjoyed by most -- I thought my experience was worth mentioning. I guess we can hope for footnotes to one day be incorporated in the audio format, as well as pictures, drawings, and maps, available only in text versions, to somehow be available to Audio participants.